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| CAPSULE HISTORY OF MANSFIELD | |
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Mansfield was part of a tract of land acquired from the Mohegan by a group of settlers in Norwich. The first settlement in Mansfield, probably before 1692, was established at Mansfield Center, then called "Ponde Place." Originally part of the town of Windham, Mansfield was incorporated as a separate town by an act of the legislature in 1702. Most of the first settlers were farmers and Mansfield has remained largely a rural town. Rivers powered saw mills and grist mills from the earliest days, and during the nineteenth century the town supported a number of small industries. Mainly textiles, but also steelyards, bits and augers, bells, bronze cannons, gunpowder, and organ pipes were also manufactured here. The first silk mill in the United States was built at Hanks Hill in 1810 and for a while Mansfield led the entire country in the silk industry. During the twentieth century, the chief industry of the town has been education. Founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, the University of Connecticut now includes a variety of colleges, research facilities and services. |